Skeldon sees signs of progress despite loss

Published:19:51Wednesday 18 March 2015

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Scotland Women suffered their fourth Six Nations defeat on Friday night, this time at the hands of world champions England in a one-sided 42-13 performance, but hooker Lana Skeldon insists there are reasons for optimism.

In front of 7,620 spectators at Darlington’s Northern Echo Arena it took England less than a minute to break the deadlock but that did not prompt the usual capitulation. Scotland, who had failed to score a single point in their previous five encounters with England, pegged their hosts back and gave themselves a fighting chance with the score 20-6 at the interval.

The world champions moved up a gear in the second half, running in four more tries to complete the 29-point rout, but Scotland did score their first try against the Auld Enemy since 2008, Eilidh Sinclair touching down.

“England were very physical but I feel that we handled them very well,” said Skeldon.

“Our set pieces were excellent and we all worked well as a team. I really enjoyed Friday night’s game, it shows just how far we have come in this year’s Six Nations.

“Despite the scorelines we are proud of what we have managed to achieve this year. The hope is we get another big crowd at Broadwood on Sunday for our final game.”